Bravo to the E.U. for having the guts to do what the U.S. wouldn’t: punish Microsoft for it’s practices.
Now Microsoft is making more claims about doom and destruction to come if Windows isn’t kept a monopoly. Here’s the latest one:
Software giant Microsoft is claiming that stripping the Windows operating system of its multimedia player technology will break many web sites and multimedia software applications.
Currently Windows Media Player (WMP), which allows users to watch video and listen to music, is automatically “bundled” with the Windows package. But the European Union ruled on Wednesday that Microsoft must start selling a stripped version alongside the existing version within the next three months, to enable other media player vendors to compete.
If they break, it’s because of the Microsoft monopoly and the way Windows is written. In the last year, I’ve designed quite a few websites, and found myself frustrated again and again because Microsoft’s browser and Windows do not follow any accepted standards other than their own. A web page designed to work in Windows doesn’t work in any other browser, and vice-versa. So, yes, web pages will break. Because they were written incorrectly to begin with.
I can’t see any reason for consternation. Microsoft insists on integrating things like Media Player into Windows at a low level as a way of defeating any competitor’s software. They insist that it’s necessary, but of course, it’s not. For example, take a look at the Mac: If a web page contains Media Player content, you just download a copy of WMP, and it works. If a page needs Quicktime, you download it. Real Player? Download it. They all work, and none need to be integrated into the system. You can remove any of them any time you want, and somehow the system still manages to work. There’s no reason for this constant integration other than the maintenance of a monopoly.
